Shooting Stars
by ChuChuMarshmallow
Summary: She couldn't pretend forever, but just one last time wouldn't hurt right?


A/N: A random moment before being turned. Truthfully, I just wanted to write something that involved a Rainbow Monkey in some way.

Do you remember how fun it was to pretend?

Her fingers twirled her long, black hair as she chewed silently on a piece of bubblegum. The night air was humid and cool for once. Gentle breezes came through every so often, brushing against her dark strands and clothes lightly. The moon was barely up there in the sky, being a slim crescent shape. Stars weren't as abundant as they were when she used to do this now that she thought about it, but it made the sky look like a nice, deep, undisturbed sea of dark blue. Except once, just once, where an airplane passed by and left trails of smoke behind. It'd crash soon, she knew, but it was normal to her now unfortunately. She didn't want to become used to this life, but it seemed like the only way to survive was to accept it as it was. Clasping her hands together, her brown eyes shut and she whispered a soft prayer.

"What're you wishin' for?"

Over her shoulder there stood a blonde haired boy, wearing a trademark of his – that orange hoodie. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his jeans, green eyes focused on her.

With a shake of her head, she turned back to looking at the sky. Was it a wish? She wasn't sure.

"To make it out of this mess alive."

As she glanced over her shoulder to look for his reaction, she assumed that the lack of cheerfulness in her voice had caught him off guard, and coaxed him into becoming speechless. Instead of responding, he sat next to her with one leg outstretched and the other bent, with his arm resting on it as he looked up at the sky just as she was doing.

The two sat in silence, both with their eyes glued onto the moon and its surroundings. Every so often, she'd steal a glance at him, mutely wondering what he might have been thinking. Suddenly, he spoke.

"We used ta pretend a lot when we were lil, didn't we?"

They did, didn't they? Now that he mentioned it, it was a bit funny. Acting out how it would be like to be stuck in a zombie apocalypse was something they did whenever a new zombie-related movie came out. Maybe it were those imagined scenarios that kept them alive now.

He continued, without her answering. "I mean, c'mon, who woulda thought that we'd be in the middle of this mess now, righ'?"

She couldn't help but laugh softly and nod, though out of the corner of her eye she caught him frowning. There was no sound but the wind once for quite some time, until he broke it once again.

"It wasn't your fault, you know."

With those words her body froze, light trembles barely shaking her frame. "I-I don't know what you're-"

"Don't play dumb…we all know what's botherin' you."

Ahh, so they could see through her more than she thought. Funny how as the years passed by, she'd lost the ability to mask her feelings more and more.

"There was really nothing anyone could do, ya know? I know how you feel…and so does Abby. And everyone else, for that matter. We've all lost them too."

Unconsciously, she pulled her legs close to her body, wrapping her thin arms around them and resting her head on her knees. He was right after all; they all had lost something because of this stupid epidemic. The only difference between them was that everyone else had coped on their own, either before they all had grouped together or during, when no one was looking. She had made the mistake of finally being hit by reality in mid gun-fire. Her mind had drifted back to her house, to the sight of My First Rainbow Monkey and a lavendar cloth being coated in blood in her driveway. At the time, she had just cried over the destroyed doll, oblivious to the surrounding calamity. She vaguely remembered Wally trying to tell her something and Abby stopping him before he could. Maybe he was trying to snap her out of her make-believe reality where Rainbow Monkeys were her only true love. Unfortunately, that pretend world broke apart in the most inopportune moment.

A horde was upon them when it happened, attracted by the car alarm that Tommy had accidently set off just moments before. They were in a circle formation, making sure everyone covered someone else and that no one was separated from the group. Then a flash of blood, purple, and the sinking feeling associated with the thought of her little sister calling, screaming with everything she had to be saved while being torn apart by her once loving parents as she was dragged away to safety by her team. The heart-wrenching screams echoed over and over, until her grip on the Uzi slipped and she collapsed, her mind blanking out. She could hear the frantic yelling of her team, and feel a pair of arms grab her momentarily before everything else became nothing along with her vision.

The bubblegum started to lose its taste, but she continued to chew anyway. A movement to her right, and then an outstretched hand came into view. She looked up, her sight unnaturally blurry. It must've been the chilly air that was making her eyes sting, too.

"C'mon, the others are worried about you."

She took his hand and he helped her to her feet. However, he didn't let go of it once they started walking back.

"It'll be okay Kuki," he said. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Her hand tightened around his as she closed her eyes, pretending that the fallen airplane from before was simply a shooting star that Rainbow Monkeys sent down to help her make a wish.

_I wish that Wally isn't lying. I hope that everything will be okay._


End file.
